New Delhi: Months after taking political plunge, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal concedes that that it is tough for a newly floated political party to win trust of the people. He also admits that mammoth crowd in party rallies cannot be easily translated into votes.

In an exclusive interview with Jagran Post, social activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal also said that persuading people to vote for the AAP in upcoming polls is an uphill task.

He said this on being asked how he will convince people that only his party can sort out the grievances of the people besides effectively fighting rampant corruption.

“When a party is launched, its leaders talk idealism and vow to fight corruption but in course of time, the people begin to get disenchanted and feel cheated by the same party. Every single party has cheated people. There is a famous adage- Once bitten, twice shy. This is the situation with common people. I can only assure public of rooting out corruption. I am doing my job, now its people of this country who have to adjudge our performance,” said Kejriwal.

However, he justified his move of launching a political party despite reservations of his mentor and veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare in this regard. Kejriwal’s political move led to his split with Hazare.

“We are of the view that unless we change the political course of the nation, we will not get rid of corruption. Anna thinks that joining politics directly makes one dirty. Therefore, Anna wants to continue with his ‘andolan’ while we want to do it by changing the politics of this country. I believe that both-leading a movement for a cause and joining politics for the same cause- are right,” added Kejriwal.

He also added, “The government of India has cheated people on numerous occasions. It is not only the government but the political parties too have cheated the people. No party wants to bring strong anti-corruption,” viewed Kejriwal.

Kejriwal also talked about his strategies and plans by which he thinks he is going to make a difference in the present political scenario. He assured people of Delhi that he would address most of their problem if voted to power.

“People ask what your manifesto is. Out of these expose our manifesto will be made. What we are saying is that rates of electricity should be half of what it is at present. Then obviously it will become our manifesto. If AAP is voted to power, the electricity rates will be halved.”

During interview, Kejriwal did not forget to mention Anna Hazare. He admitted that despite differences over several issues, both of them are in good terms and they talk to each other.

“Differences of opinion are healthy in a democratic system. It is unfortunate that Anna Hazare is no longer with us. If Anna had been with us our movement would have been thousands time stronger,” Kejriwal said.